Deal Signed Between Protesters And Ukraine's President

An agreement between Ukraine's president and the opposition is taking effect.

The country's newly empowered parliament has voted to remove the interior minister, widely blamed for ordering police violence against protesters. And lawmakers have also voted to allow the release of a jailed opposition figure.

The votes came after a fast-moving day of efforts to defuse months of political crisis. The parliament today had earlier restored powers to itself by reinstating a 10-year-old constitution that limits presidential authority.

The deal that was signed today calls for presidential elections to be held this year, instead of in March of next year. And Ukrainian authorities are supposed to name a new government, including opposition figures, within 10 days.

Despite today's agreement, protesters who are angry over police violence are showing no signs of abandoning their camp in central Kiev. Speakers at the camp say they aren't happy with the outcome.

The standoff worsened sharply this week with scores of people killed and hundreds of others wounded in the worst violence Ukraine has seen since it became independent in 1991.

Alan Cullison of The Wall Street Journal joins Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson from Kiev with the latest.